The Convergence of Time
by AvianReader
Summary: A thousand years after the Zero Requiem, Sifir Opelo stumbles into a mysterious cavern on Kamine Island in hopes of learning more about the legendary Zero. But he never imagined that he would meet the legend in person.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**  
**September 14, 1012 ADDE (After Death Demon Emperor)**

_On November 22, 1 ADDE, Zero, the masked revolutionary, rid the world of Lelouch vi Britannia, also known as the Demon Emperor. In the subsequent years, Nunnally vi Britannia, the Angel of Britannia, labored hard in order to restore peace to the war-torn world. Since then, humanity has enjoyed peace and prosperity…_

A finger tapped Sifir's shoulder, bringing the blond boy out of the documentary and back into reality. "What, Quinn?" he asked, irritated.

"We're going to leave for the technology section." his friend replied, looking around and bouncing on his heels anxiously. His gaze glossed over the various exhibits without really seeing them.

Sifir sighed. He would've loved to stay longer in this part of the museum, but no matter. He could simply do a virtual tour of it later on through the Internet. But it wouldn't be the same though. Besides, the genuine thing wouldn't be there, in front of him. There was something novel about standing in front of a real thousand-year old artifact.

"Fine, then." He said, casting a last longing look back towards a hologram of a mini-figure of Jeremiah "Orange" Gottwald stood directing the parade transporting Suzaku Kururugi towards his court martial. Stationed a few metres away from it was Prince Clovis' transport, complete with a statue of Zero standing resolutely against impossible odds. He felt a thrill of excitement run through him just by looking at it. If he walked just a bit closer, he would be able to experience it all again–the suspense, the dramatics, the _mystery_.

…but no, he could sneak back and go through the exhibit later.

As they headed back out towards the entrance, they passed display cases containing tattered Black Knight uniforms and cheap Zero costumes that were used by the Japanese to get exiled during the opening of the second SAZ. On the other side, mini figurines of various people and Knightmares were placed on a table. As he walked past, Sifir noted the Guren and the Lancelot, which were locked in eternal combat with each other. Next to the two was the iconic image of Zero's Knightmare surfing along a pair of Slash Harken cables and the Ganymede tossing the pizza for one of Ashford Academy's legendary pizza festivals. Its blue arms were raised, reaching for the round pizza dough that sat suspended above its head.

They passed a two metre replica of the Kawaguchi hotel, and as Sifir focused on it, knowledge about the use of Sakuradite appeared in his mind via the telepathic transmitter embedded in his brain. "Say, what do you think would've happened if Zero hadn't decided to show up when the JLF hijacked the hotel?" he asked idly.

Quinn glanced at the replica for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know, you're the history buff here."

Sifir sighed. It was a shame that no one really thought about the past anymore. He would've given almost anything to debate about various outcomes and come up with theories about Zero's Revolution with someone in person. His peers simply couldn't see the beautiful intricacies of every plan that Zero executed as well as the raw, savage ruthlessness that the Demon Emperor exhibited when he forced the entire planet to bow to his senseless insanity. With the exception of Schneizel, who pushed Zero to a stalemate in a game of chess and could've beaten the Demon Emperor had he not been afraid to sacrifice his own life instead of surrendering to that monster, popular figures like Napoleon and Eowyn paled in comparison to the two leaders.

Despite his evil nature, there were some things that Sifir found remarkable about the Demon Emperor. He could take advantage of any situation, and with the help of his knight, Suzaku Kururugi, use it to further his own malicious goals. Interestingly, many had noticed that the Demon Emperor's tactics were remarkably similar to Zero's. Both had a penchant for dramatics, and often utilized their surroundings to destroy their enemies. The widely accepted fact was that the Demon Emperor had gained his skills by observing Zero, though one blogger went as far as to suggest that they were the same person a few months back. To say that every historian on the Internet was outraged would be a gross understatement of epic proportions.

Nevertheless, the blogger who had suggested the idea established himself (or herself) in a little corner of the Internet, where he continued to spout nonsensical reasons as to why Lelouch the Demon Emperor was Zero. Sifir had to admit that he presented some very convincing arguments that no one could deny. Zero had supposedly "died" after the Final Battle of Tokyo, though no concrete evidence was provided by the leaders of the Black Knights. And when Zero had reappeared at the execution of the Black Knights, he sported almost inhuman capabilities that would've been impossible without today's muscle-boosting technology. And when analyzed, the speech patterns of Lelouch and Zero matched disturbingly closely. An analysis of the movement patterns of Kururugi and the Zero that killed the Demon Emperor also produced similar results. So somehow, the suddenly very influential entity on the Internet had argued, the Knight of Zero had survived the destruction of the Lancelot and assumed the role of Zero just so that he could kill Lelouch.

In fact, a detailed investigation on the tv broadcast revealed that the Demon Emperor had even _smiled_ as he was stabbed through the heart. That fact alone seemed to shake everyone up badly, though a theory was created mere minutes later saying that the Emperor smiled because he had been seeking an end to his misery for a lifetime, and death had finally brought peace to him. Insane people tended to have that kind of reasoning.

As a result, the controversial blogger announced barely a month ago that he was going to visit Lelouch and Kururugi's graves at the old Britannian cemetery to find out more on the mystery.

He never returned.

The distant chatter of students brought Sifir out of his reminiscing as they rounded a bend in the hallway, they were greeted with a plethora of students wandering in the midst of a sunlit room filled with hundreds of models of computers, machines, and devices. On one end, an anti-gravity projector floated a few centimeters off the table. A cube of biometal, a synthetic material that was integral to human-machine communication, was suspended in the air as well. Sifir also spotted an ancient, century-old portable storage device, or PSD, lying next to the first teleporter prototype. According to the information beamed from the exhibit, it took hours for the first PSD prototype to convert an object to light, and even then there was a chance that the object would be mutated beyond recognition when retrieved. Of course, PSDs were now much smaller and more reliable.

"Hey Zero-lover!" an unfamiliar red-haired girl called. "Did you get locked in school last night because you fell asleep researching about the Black Knights again?"

_What? How does she know?_ Before he could formulate a proper response, a thin, meek-looking girl walked up. "Leila, can I have my ring back, please?"

"Why should I give it back, Juliet? Can't you get another one from your prestigious Stadtfeld relatives? They have plenty of other rings, don't they?"

"I would still like my ring back, please." The girl said with all the patience of a time worn rock.

"You want it? Come get it!" she taunted, pulling out a small, palm-sized pink purse. Flicking a hidden switch, a miniature claw shot out of one end of the purse, its blade-like fingers gleamed menacingly under the sunlight. With her other hand, she dangled the ring from a finger. Her feral smile grew larger. "But I'll have to microwave you from the inside out with my new pet," She said as she lovingly traced a finger over the claw. In response, the claw crackled and glowed with red lightning.

"Use it, Kozuki!" A dark skinned blonde girl whispered. "I need some field data to work with, you know!"

_Kozuki? Why does that sound familiar…_ Sifir wondered as he watched the situation unfold like some cheesy family drama.

"Shut it, Chawla. You gave it to me, so I get to use it however I want." She growled.

Juliet paled at the sight of the ruby orb embedded in the middle of the claw. "Leila, please!" She implored helplessly.

Suddenly, the ring floated off Leila's finger. "Hey!" She cried out and tried to grab it, but Sifir snatched it out of the air before she could.

"Here you go, m'lady." He said courteously, depositing the piece of jewelry onto Juliet's hand with a bow.

Juliet's face broke into rare smile. "Thank you. How did you do that?"

Sifir held up the anti-gravity device that had been hidden in his hand. "Zero says that the strong must defend the weak, and as loyal citizens of the world, we must do what is just."

"Must you always act like that stupid terrorist?" Leila muttered under her breath.

Sifir turned sharply towards her. "He's not a terrorist, he's a freedom fighter! Don't you know the difference?" He snapped. "Without him, we'd still have war and famine today! Would you like that?"

Juliet glared at him. "I don't give a damn about your stupid crap." she muttered as she turned away.

He sighed. Listening to his classmates squabble over petty little conflicts got tiring after a while. He'd much rather be somewhere else.

_That's it,_ Sifir decided. If he remembered correctly, Kamine Island, a place of great mystery during the Zero Revolution, resided less than twenty kilometers from this museum. It would be a shame to not visit it. He turned towards Quinn. "I'm going to check out Kamine Island. I'll be back in an hour." He told him.

Quinn looked at him skeptically. "More like six hours. Don't blame me if you come back here at midnight only to realize that we've left already. You never reply to telemessages."

Sifir snorted. "Telemessages are so annoying. Its enough that I have to deal with my own thoughts bouncing around in my head, much less my appband beeping at me every few seconds. Besides, I know how to get back on my own. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He pulled his PSD out of his pocket, walked to the window at the side of the room, and beamed out his skimmer, the object materializing from a light beam underneath a protective cover in a matter of seconds. The sleek black vehicle, about the size and shape of one of those antique motorcycles, hummed quietly as it powered up, rising slightly off the ground when its miniaturized float system came online.

Swinging a leg over it, he waved to his fellow classmates one last time before accelerating straight out the window, the force field that made up the barrier rippling to let the machine and its rider through.

* * *

The lonely cries of seabirds circling overhead greeted Sifir as he stepped off his skimmer and onto the warm sand. His shoes automatically expanded to adapt to the different terrain, their soles widening to distribute his weight over a larger area so that he didn't sink as much into the sand with each step. He beamed his skimmer back into his PSD and looked around. A bit farther inland, a long line of rocks tumbled down from a cliff, forming a natural staircase into the dense forest that occupied the clifftop. Seeing no other path farther inland, he jogged up to the rocks and slowly scaled the uneven terrain. An overgrown deer trail snaked up from the edge of the cliff and deeper into the forest. With a thought, his shorts, ideal for enjoying the warm weather, grew longer to suit his purposes of hiking through dense vegetation.

The narrow path was steep and seldom used, but didn't pose a challenge to Sifir, as he had played immersive video games like many other boys his age. The games were designed to induce a sense of realism to its users, appealing to the gameplayers with the sense of sight, sound, smell, taste, and feel just like one would in reality. It was one of the most popular forms of exercise, as the game forced the user to move his or her body as he or she navigated through the game. One could play through a wide variety of different scenarios, from simple obstacle courses to life-threatening situations. Playing those artificial-reality games were the closest thing he could get to a real adventure. Climbing a steep trail was nothing compared to being chased by angry monkeys through a dilapidated temple for hours on end.

Pushing past the last layer of leaves, Sifir stepped into a clearing. Curiously, it was completely devoid of any sort of vegetation. To his left, a boulder with unnaturally straight edges sat, barren of any sort of life as the clearing before him. He took a few steps forward, trying to find the reason for the sudden lack of greenery.

As soon as his foot touched the barren ground, he felt a sense of…power. It resonated with a deep part of him that he had not known existed until now. He glanced around nervously and glimpsed a flash of movement among the trees, though maybe that was just an animal or a leaf blowing in the wind. He took a step towards it, and the ground gave away from beneath him.

Sifir yelped as the rest of his body followed the crumbling earth down. Reflexively, his hands caught the sides of the hole for a moment, but the brittle layer of dirt crumbled the moment he touched it.

The side of his body hit a mound of dirt with a hard thump and his left hand touched cold stone. More rocks and debris rained down from above and hammered his body. He winced as he sat up, blinking dust out of his eyes. He lifted his shirt gingerly and checked the skin underneath. Fortunately, he hadn't suffered too much from the fall and his pants and shirt had automatically stiffened to absorb the impact. There were only a few scrapes and his side would bruise a little, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with the medicine in his PSD. He gingerly got to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.

Light shone down from the hole Sifir had fallen through, illuminating a long, dark hallway lined with huge, crumbling, Romanesque columns on both sides. A huge, cracked mural sat on the far side of the hallway. Large chunks of the stone were missing from the center of the mural, though Sifir could see a hint of a large symbol that once dominated the center of the wall. Thin lines branched from the destroyed figure, and large chunks of stone from the surrounding rock and columns littered the entire length of the hallway.

Curious, Sifir walked towards the mural. The huge, monolithic structure emanated a sense of power that inspired a deep reverence within him, not unlike the old temples and cathedrals he had visited before. The architecture suggested that this structure was at been around for at least several millennia, making it one of, if not _the_ oldest structure Sifir had ever seen.

As Sifir stepped onto a round dais and neared the wall, a loud _clank_ echoed throughout the cavern. Looking down, he saw that his foot had struck a metal plate. He picked it up and examined the object. Most of the paint had peeled off from the ravages of time, but a hint of dark purple was still visible underneath a thin layer of rust. Given the dry environment, it would've taken a long time for the metal to even rust a little bit. Maybe a couple centuries old? Obviously, someone had visited this place long after the mural and the columns had been built…and probably tried to destroy it.

He retrieved an archeological analyzer device from his PSD and placed it on the ground. Sensing his intention, several blue lines shot out of the cube-like machine at spread themselves on the wall and the purple plate as several tiny dots of light, bringing back information of distance, chemical traces, and age. After a moment, the lines disappeared, and Sifir picked it up. It took a few seconds to analyze the information gathered before sending its findings to his telepathic transmitter. _The purple plate appears to be made of type E quality metal, usually only found on military-grade machines at the time. And it's about…a thousand years old? Then that must've been part of the armor on a Sutherland!_ A smile crept across his face. _If I send one of the researchers this plate they can help me figure out some of the mysteries surrounding Kamine Island during the Zero Revolution._ There was nothing he enjoyed more than a challenge. The analyzer beeped. _Oh? Another foreign substance at the foot of the mural?_

Walking over, he crouched down and started digging through the layer of gravel that littered the area. _Plastic, the thing said I'm looking for plastic._ The device beeped again and he paused. A thin laserbeam from the device in his hand pointed out a few shards of purple plastic mixed among the debris. Curious, he fingered the jagged edges and wondered where it would have come from. _Never mind that, I can ask the researchers to analyze these things for me when I get back._ He dug out the rest of the shards and stored them away before standing up. The device beeped again. _Something in front of me…a bullet hole?_ He traced his fingers around a small indent at eye level. _These things all have something to do with the mysteries, don't they? Now, if I could find the answer to these questions…_

A clear hum akin to the ringing of a bell suddenly filled the air, accompanied by the low rumble of an earthquake that rocked the cavern and sent more stone columns crumbling down. _What?! An earthquake? Why now of all times?!_

He threw himself against the mural just in time to narrowly miss a large rock falling from the ceiling. As he did, he noticed that the strange lines and the segment of the symbol had started glowing blood red. _What's happening?_ He wondered as he batted away another falling rock. The sound rose in pitch as the shaking increased and the world faded into blank whiteness.

Random images flashed through his mind's eye: two planets suspended above each other, a cracking grandfather clock whose hands moved backwards, distant silhouettes stumbling across a blank white plain. Moments later, the whiteness disappeared, and the rumbling grew.

Sifir took a step forward, and painfully stubbed his toe on a stone pyramid. _What the hell?! Where did that come from?_ He hissed in pain and fell backwards, banging his head on the floor to wind up staring at the cracked ceiling.

_Can things get any worse?_

And then the ceiling fell in.

* * *

AN: Like it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
**June 17, Year Zero**

_I'm dead._ Sifir decided as the big block of concrete fell towards him. _There's no way I'm getting out of this one_.

There was a large crash, and he shielded his face as great cloud of dust and debris buffeted his arms. He cautiously opened his eyes to see the cracked block less than two feet away from his face. _What? I'm not dead?_

"Major Kururugi! And is that…Zero?" an unfamiliar voice cried.

Guns cocked in response, and Sifir froze. That was a sound only heard in historical movies and documentaries.

"You fools!" A man's voice rang out. "Princess Euphemia is with them too! Capture them! Capture them!"

_Princess Euphemia? You mean Princess Massacre?_ Sifir shrank back. Images of her happily shooting the Japanese and ordering the Britannian troops to do the same at the SAZ opening ceremony played through his head. There was no shortage of documentaries and dramatizations of that event.

"Zero, that Knightmare there!" a woman's voice floated over the sound of falling debris.

_Zero?_ He straightened, clipping his head painfully against the concrete.

Then came the digitally altered voice of a long-dead legend. "Right! We'll use that! Let's go!"

Sifir pushed himself up and peered over the lip of the concrete just in time to see a masked man disappear into the cockpit of a giant black and gold Knightmare. _The Gawain!_

He shook his head. _No, that's impossible. This_ has _to be a video game or some other kind of immersive simulation. Someone's playing tricks on me,_ he thought, though the sensors on his appband told him otherwise. While simulations were very sophisticated and realistic, the graphics were seldom as vivid as real objects in reality.

A brilliant flash of light caught his eye and he turned to see a red-haired girl facing down several soldiers. He froze. _Isn't that Kallen Kozuki, ace of the Black Knights?_

His suspicions were confirmed when the girl deftly backhanded the first soldier and kicked another one painfully in the stomach. His eyes widened. _Holy Angel of Britannia, she's_ good.

As the commander barked out frantic orders, the woman took the opportunity to grab an assault rifle from one of the fallen soldiers. She peppered the ground with bullets as the soldiers formed a wall around Euphemia and her knight. _Suzaku Kururugi, Euphemia li Britannia, Kallen Kozuki, and Zero–two of the worst figures in history against two of the best._

Over the din of panicked shouts and gunfire came the sound of a Knightmare cockpit closing. Distracted, the soldiers momentarily glanced at the Gawain, and Kozuki took advantage of the momentary pause of gunfire to climb onto the Gawain and hold on as the behemoth turned towards the cave entrance. Sifir frowned. _I'm pretty sure that that entrance wasn't there before._

"Ah! The Gawain!" someone shouted.

The giant Knightmare sped towards the entrance with a screech of its landspinners and fired its Hadron Cannons at the Sutherlands that moved to block its escape. Surprisingly, the cannon fire scattered itself over a wide radius, destroying several columns in the process and completely missing the Sutherlands that waited outside. Silently, Sifir marveled at the Sutherland pilots' valor. It took a lot of courage to stand in front of a charging Knightmare twice the size of yours and keep firing. Or maybe they were just extraordinarily stupid.

Regardless, the Knightmare took flight, feet barely clearing the line of Sutherlands, and sped out of sight.

Sifir let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. _This has to be some reenactment or a video or a game or_ something. _There's just no other explanation. This isn't real._ He told himself. _I'm pretty sure this is all the work of that Chawla girl, probably because I didn't let Leila test her microwave claw thing._ He'd heard that she had a reputation for holding very long grudges, though it wouldn't be over such a petty thing, would it?

Setting down the archeological analyzer on the edge of the concrete block, he took out his PSD and beamed an invisibility projector onto his hand. The object resembled a palm-sized ball that was cut in half, with warped glass surrounding a smaller black sphere suspended in the center. At a mental command, the projector emitted a soft white glow as it powered on before returning to its normal state. He held the PSD at arm's length. With a silent thought, a mirror flickered into existence. As expected, he saw nothing but the stone mural behind him.

Shoving the PSD into his pocket, Sifir climbed onto the concrete block. It seemed as if most of the activity had moved towards the entrance. Soldiers were busy clearing out of the area, disconnecting wires and removing lighting. The Sutherland that had been standing next to the Gawain had also been removed, revealing a purple plate where it had been standing. A chill ran down his spine as he realized that he had found it almost in the exact same position before the earthquake had happened.

He stepped aside to avoid colliding with a passing soldier. _I swear, if Chawla's really behind this, I'm going to make sure she never gets her hands on a simulator ever again._ It wouldn't be the first time that someone had played a prank on him, though none of them were ever so elaborate.

Agitated voices echoed down the cave as Sifir approached the entrance. _What?_ he exclaimed as he saw two soldiers and a man in a blue uniform surrounded Kururugi. _Why are they pointing their guns at him? I thought he was their best Knightmare pilot. Or maybe his plans on taking over the world with Lelouch were found out? Euphemia certainly looks puzzled._ His frown turned into a leer as he saw the blond man in a military jacket put his hand comfortingly on Euphemia's shoulder and murmured something that Sifir couldn't quite catch. Schneizel. _Coward,_ he thought. _All he does is leech off other people. He even surrendered to Lelouch just when he could've killed the Demon by detonating a FLEIJA onboard the Damocles and died a heroic death._

He watched as the group boarded a giant white and orange airship with some kind of black metal rod that extended from its nose. With a jolt, he realized that he was staring at the first airship to ever be built, the Avalon. The hatch closed as soon as they boarded and the engines started to roar.

He paused for a moment, considering his options. He could try to convince whoever was tricking him with this immersive game to let him back to reality, or he could follow the Avalon and see where it went, but seeing where this would go, regardless of whether it was real or not, was so tempting…

Aiming the projector of his PSD so that the light wouldn't escape the range of the invisibility projector, he beamed out his skimmer. He could try and find out what the heck was happening later, but the Avalon wasn't going to sit there waiting for him.

As he placed the invisibility projector into a compartment on the skimmer and mounted it, the Avalon took flight and he followed behind. The skimmer beeped **No satellite detected** the console read. He frowned, but ignored the message, as well as the traces of doubt that had started to grow within him. Such technologies were very reliable, so it would be nearly impossible not to have connection as long as he was on Earth unless someone placed some kind of communication suppressor nearby. Or maybe Chawla had done just that.

He checked his appband again. According to its sensors, he wasn't in a game of any kind. The closest pieces of technology outside of his own were the Avalon and the Knightmares that stood guard around the area. Or maybe that Chawla girl was still jamming his sensors?

* * *

A sprawling metropolis greeted Sifir as he followed the Avalon towards a city that he recognized as the Tokyo Settlement. He ran it over with a critical eye. _It looks so different from the city that was rebuilt after the FLEIJA,_ he commented to himself. _Though it was probably for the better in the long run._ Destroying the center of the settlement had effectively cleaned out everything, forcing its inhabitants to reconstruct everything in a way that would mix both Britannian and Japanese cultures after the Demon Emperor's death. The FLEIJA itself had also helped scientists learn how to convert matter and light interchangeably, leading to the creation of the PSD.

He watched the Avalon head towards a white building in the center of the city. _The government bureau, perhaps?_

As he approached the building, several helicopters took flight and flew towards the Avalon. Perhaps they were directing it towards the airstrip?

To his surprise, the helicopters ignored the Avalon and continued heading straight past the airship. His hands tightened on the skimmer. _Are they flying…towards me?_ He stopped and hovered uncertainly, watching the approaching helicopters draw nearer.

He glanced at the invisibility projector. It still sat in the compartment of the skimmer, pulsing every so often to indicate that it was in use. _If I'm invisible, then why are they flying straight at me? …unless they're using radar._ he belatedly realized.

Of course the Britannians would have such tight security. The Chinese Federation lay only a couple hundred kilometers away, so they had to have people monitoring the air and sea around them at all times.

With a thought, he commanded the invisibility projector to block the radar just as the helicopters opened fire.

_Oh crap._

He threw himself into a reckless dive to the left to avoid the hailstorm of bullets. One of them nicked him and he gasped, fiery pain spreading over his upper right arm.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," he whispered as he turned to look at the wound on his arm.

Blood. Lots of it. The stuff literally caked his clothes and his skimmer, though his shirt was already busily mending itself and tightening around the wound to stem the flow of blood. Hopefully that should be enough until he could stop somewhere and fix up the gash.

He turned around to steer the skimmer, only to see a bright yellow wall rushing up at him.

_Fuck._

He blacked out.

* * *

**June 17, Year Zero**

"Nya."

A small, moist _something_ poked at Sifir gently. "What is it?" he groaned and opened his eyes, only to shut them immediately as he was assailed by bright lights. His head pounded like a hundred exploding FLEIJAs, and every heartbeat made it progressively more painful.

"Nya, nya…nya!" That 'nyaning' was getting irritating.

"…NYAN!"

"What the hell do you want?!" Sifir shouted, then gasped as the world swayed and pitched around him like an airbus spinning out of control. The yowl still rang in his ear and the migraine was definitely not helping, as well as the throbbing arm. He looked over to see a dark grey cat sitting next to him on a bed swathed with crisp white sheets.

"Nya…" the cat mewed apologetically, laying a tiny paw on Sifir's lap.

He smiled, his hand unconsciously reaching out to pet the smooth, dark grey fur. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I didn't mean it." he replied to the cat's apology.

"Oh! You're awake!" Sifir glanced over to see a woman dressed in a pink uniform walk into the room. Was she supposed to replace the medical robot while it was being repaired? He frowned slightly. While humans could do a decent job diagnosing and treating injuries, they were generally less efficient and reliable than medical robots. And shouldn't the hospital have at least another droid to replace the one undergoing maintenance, or was it understaffed? Such things had stopped being the norm about five hundred years ago.

"How are you feeling? Do you feel any discomfort at all? Headaches? Disorientation?" the nurse asked as she walked up to him. Her clothes looked…weird, like those really old ones found in a museum.

"Just blasted big migraine, and my arm feels weird." he replied hoarsely.

The nurse nodded understandingly and handed him a cup of water. "That's normal. I've administered some medicine that will help ease the pain of the gash on your arm, and you seem to have a concussion as well. Though if I didn't know any better I'd say that the wound on your arm was caused by a bullet rather than a rock. Anyway, do you know where you are?"

He frowned. Bullet wound? There was more to that, but he couldn't quite remember what. He recalled an ocean and an island… "Japan, though I don't know where."

"You got that part correct. We're in the medical center in Ashford Academy, Tokyo."

Wasn't there something special about Tokyo? Before he could consider it any further, the nurse asked, "Do you know what day it is today, then?"

"Um, Friday?" He took a sip of water and relaxed as the cool liquid eased the throbbing in his head slightly.

The nurse glanced at her watch. "It's Sunday, actually, Sunday June 17th."

What? That didn't feel right. "What year is it?"

The nurse smiled. "It's 2017. Don't worry if you can't remember a lot of things. I just needed to determine the severity of your concussion. For now, just rest here for a few hours. Do you remember any of your parents' contact information? Or even their names?"

Year 2017. That didn't make sense. What year was it yesterday?

…no, focus. What did the woman just ask? Something about contact info. What was that? Did she need information on how to get to them? Couldn't she just identify him by his fingerprint? Or gene sequence? "…don't know, sorry." he replied hesitantly.

"That's okay, just tell me when you remember so I can tell them where you are. I need to fill out some forms for the camping club at the moment. If you need anything, just holler." The nurse said and after Sifir acknowledged it, she disappeared into an office a few beds down the aisle. He saw a boy enter the office and exchange a few words with the nurse through a window.

Moments later, the boy hurried into the room, his blue hair blown into a spiky mess. He was dressed in a black collared uniform with simple gold lines on it. "You're awake!" the boy exclaimed before extending a hand. "Hi, I'm Rivalz Cardemonde. Nice to meet you. I was the one who found you lying unconscious outside and helped you here."

Sifir stared mutely at the hand for a moment. The gesture reminded him of something, though he couldn't remember what. Trusting his instincts, he put the palm of his hand against the boy's–Rivalz's hand and let him shake his limp hand once. _What a weird thing to do when we've just met._ he thought idly. "I'm sorry, but I don't quite remember seeing you before." he said.

A look of puzzlement flashed across Rivalz's cheerful face before disappearing as he realized something. "Oh, yeah. The nurse said that this might happen. Don't worry, though. I'm sure you'll remember later."

Beside Sifir, the cat, who had curled up next to him and apparently fallen asleep when the nurse left, looked up. "Nya," it said, tail waving slightly in anticipation.

"Arthur!" Rivalz exclaimed. "There you are! I was looking all over for you! You missed your lunch!"

Arthur stepped delicately over Sifir's lap and sat down in front of Rivalz, tail curling up neatly around its legs, eyes looking eagerly into Rivalz's.

"Oh! I haven't introduced you two to each other yet!" Rivalz said. He gestured to Arthur. "Meet Arthur, the school cat. We adopted him when he wandered on campus. And Arthur, meet…"

"Sifir," he said. "Sifir Opelo."

Arthur batted at Rivalz's arm. "Nya!"

"Ah, I'd better feed him before he goes complaining to Milly." Rivalz said abashedly, running a hand through his hair. He scooped up the complaining feline, and, after sending one last wave at Sifir, exited the room.

* * *

AN:

Okay, now I really understand why other writers enjoy writing fanfics. Reviews. We get high off of them. And we crave them like no other frickin' drug.'Nuff said.

Anyway, about the story. The chapter was supposed to end when Sifir crashes into the building, but I figured two cliffhangers in a row would piss people off, and added part of the third chapter in as the last POV. So expect the next update to be a bit slower than this one since I need to fill in that gap.

One more thing: some of you may have noticed that the latest events are happening on June 17th, which is usually when summer break has started for most schools, so technically Ashford shouldn't be open. However, my impression of it is that the school runs year round regardless of whether classes are going on.

To be honest though, the specific date shouldn't matter that much; it is how they are relative to each other that tells a bit more about the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_March 24th, 80 ADDE:_

_Nothing pains me more than to say that Empress Nunnally died today._

_Zero had called us yesterday to tell us about her declining condition and I rushed over to the house that they had retired to five years ago. There, I found the Empress sitting on a rocking chair outside, sleeping._

_As I approached, she opened her eyes and smiled when she saw us, her pale, wrinkled face losing none of its genuine radiance despite her frail condition._

_"Have you come to say your goodbyes or whisk me away from death, Ed?" She asked as she motioned for me to sit in a chair that shared a table with her own._

_"I'm not sure. Which one do you think I should do? " I countered, easily falling into our lighthearted banter._

_"Whichever one you'd like, Your Majesty," she teased. "Though I'd be more late than I already am for some appointments if you whisk me away from death._

_"And what about us? Are you just going abandon me?"_

_"Aw, I think you'll be fine without me. Look how well the Empire is right now! Poverty's completely gone, we're sending colonists to Mars, and everybody's happy."_

_"Only because of your efforts. It's always hard to match up with the predecessor."_

_"Well, you'll just have to learn to be better than me. I can't be Empress anymore. I'm a senile, ninety-seven year old grandmother. No one wants someone as crazy as me to be Empress, don't you think?"_

_Before I could reply, Zero stepped out onto the porch, carrying a tea set. The two of them lived alone. Apparently, they didn't believe in having servants, but I suspected it was to keep the identity of Zero secret. Nunnally undoubtedly knew who he was, and it would be uncomfortable to have to walk around in your own home wearing a mask and costume. Eating would also be terribly awkward, too._

_Like so many times before, I studied the masked figure. As always, he was in full uniform, complete with his gold-lined purple suit and black cloak. The person before me was the greatest mystery of the century, and I, like everyone else, yearned to see who he really was. Though no one dared ask who he was personally. To be honest though, he looked a bit funny preparing tea like a normal servant. He, a former revolutionary and bringer of miracles, pouring tea._

_He also seemed to have lost much of his spectacular dramatics and revolutionary spirit, though I guess it's one of the many things that aren't needed in this day and age. Even a hero had to retire after the war has finished. Though, as always, something else seemed off about him, though I could never pinpoint why._

_"So, how are you feeling?" I asked when Zero had finished pouring and taken his place behind Nunnally's chair._

_"Wonderful, now that you're here." she said._

_"Her liver is failing," Zero said bluntly. "And it's progressed past the point of recovery."_

_I paused. Terminally ill. "Oh."_

_My face must have spoken what I couldn't have put into words, for Nunnally turned to Zero and said, "Aw, quit being so serious about it. It's time that I make some room for one more person on the planet."_

_Zero shook his head. "No, you don't understand." His voice cracked. Was Zero actually…crying?_

_Nunnally's expression softened, and she took hold of the masked figure's gloved hand. "Yes, I do." she said. She turned to me, all trace of playfulness gone. "Edward, promise me that you'll take care of my country for me. Uphold the new ideas of freedom and equality and do whatever you can to ensure that humanity does not return to warring against each other."_

_I swallowed back tears that had stared to form. "I promise,"_

_Eight hours later, she was dead._

_As the nurses wheeled her limp body out of the house, I glimpsed Zero standing beside her, his mask, as always, hiding any emotion thaon the wearer felt. He looked at me, some how telling me without words that I wasn't welcome right now. I obligingly ducked inside the house. Normally, I wouldn't let anyone order me around like that, but Zero had a reputation that was simply too hard to ignore._

_Later, when I came back out, I saw something small and pink nestled in Nunnally's hands, which were crossed over her chest. I picked it up. A paper crane. The number '1000' was written in neat handwriting along the edge of the crane's left wing. And Zero was nowhere to be seen._

_–from the journal of Edward Burns, 101th Emperor of Britannia_

* * *

**Unknown date**

Up on a floating platform in a world that was built upon the minds of humanity, two figures stood looking over at the eternal sunset.

"What did you do to C.C. this time?" Charles zi Britannia rumbled.

A violet-eyed, ten-year old boy with flowing blond hair that brushed the ground shrugged nonchalantly. "I just sent her accomplice and some of his acquaintances to Kamine Island."

The boy gazed at the steady stream of recently deceased people rising up towards the Collective Unconscious. His fist clenched. That false god had no right to take away the lives of billions with barely any reason. The cold callousness of the thing that floated above always enraged him, but over the decades he had learned to contain it, to control it and let it seep out slowly in the form of his work and research towards the Ragnarök Connection.

But soon none of that would ever happen again. Very soon.

"I spoke with her," V.V. said.

"Oh? What did she have to say?"

"She was very annoyed with my 'prank', and didn't see any point in why I did it in the first place."

"Then did you do it just to observe them or is there something else?"

"The Gawain was be too dangerous in Schneizel's hands. If he found out about Geass, then we would have to go through all the effort of getting rid of him. Letting Lelouch have it would even the odds and let the Black Knights distract the rest of the world longer. He's too intent on destroying you to worry about research. However…"

Charles turned towards him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I felt something activate the Thought Elevator at the same time as I did. Someone inexperienced. He or she probably didn't even know what they were doing. I believe they traveled to C's World for a brief moment and then went back, though I didn't see anything while I was there."

Charles eyed him. "It wasn't Lelouch or anyone else you saw in Kamine Island, was it?"

V.V. shook his head. "I was watching the Thought Elevator very closely at the time. No one touched it."

His brother turned away. "It's not very consequential, then. Whoever it is won't be able to do anything regardless of whether he or she traveled here or not."

V.V. silently agreed with his sentiment. They didn't have the time to chase after some phantom figure over such a small thing. Though perhaps he could spare one of his subordinates in the Geass Directorate to track the person down.

He casually waved a hand in front of him, and a window appeared out of the mist surrounding the platform of the Sword of Akasha. Flickering movement in the window was revealed to be the Chinese Federation attacking under the name of the defunct Japanese government. Soldiers, commanders, and officers alike scurried around. To V.V. and Charles, they were mere ants, concerned with only the matters of the present and nothing more. Why did they have to worry about a few upstart Numbers when they were fighting a god?

* * *

**June 18, Year Zero**

Wispy clouds flew past Sifir as he tumbled through the air. Bright streaks of light flashed in and out of existence around him. Bullets. Right, the enemy was firing at him from above.

Moving a giant armored arm and flaring translucent his blue energy wings to steady himself, Sifir absorbed the bullets. Above, several dozen Vincents circled angrily around the Damocles.

Then a bright streak zoomed in, materializing into a bloodred Knightmare. Matching crimson energy wings sparkled at its sides, making the golden claw on its right hand stand out all the more.

This was it. The final level of the game. He needed to get past the Guren and fire the FLEIJA eliminator within 1 second between the time that the environmental data for the FLEIJA eliminator was inputted and the time of impact. Though to be historically accurate, the FLEIJA eliminator had to hit the target within 0.04 seconds in order for it to be effective. However, no one could actually accomplish that feat. The only ones who could actually do it were machines, and, of course, Suzaku Kururugi, the Knight of Zero. How he managed to do it had completely stymied experts.

The game designers originally didn't want to add this part, since Kururugi and Lelouch were traditionally celebrated as the tyrants, but hardcore game players wanted the challenge of firing the FLEIJA eliminator so much that they pestered the designers until they finally gave in and released a new version of the game to the public. Then the public complained that the game was impossible to beat, so the window was increased to 1 second instead. People looking for an adventure could still try it at 0.04 seconds, but none had accomplished it in the 100 years since the update had been released.

"It's time to end this once and for all!" a fierce voice crackled through the radio. The simulated voice of Kallen Kozuki. Of course, she had actually said something different in the records, but the designers had decided that this was more dramatic.

"And massacre thousands of human lives with those damn FLEIJAs." Sifir muttered to himself.

"That wouldn't be necessary if you and Lelouch didn't betray the world!" Kozuki cried. With a flick of her crimson wings, she raced forward crying out, "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"

…What?!

Sifir's eyes shot open to see a blonde girl cheerfully sauntering into the sickbay. "Did you have a good night's sleep, Sifir?" she asked as she came closer.

"Uh, I–yeah." he stammered ineloquently.

"I'm Milly Ashford, president of the student council of Ashford Academy. Have you remembered anything yet?"

Something about her name bugged him, but he couldn't figure out why. Nevertheless, he ignored it and shook his head. "No, sorry, I haven't."

"The nurse says that you'll have to go easy for a few days anyway. Reuben Ashford, my grandfather and principal of Ashford Academy, says you can stay in one of the dorms until you can get home."

Sifir nodded. "Okay,"

The blonde-haired girl disappeared out of the room. A few moments later, her head popped back into the room. "Do you mind sharing a room with an Eleven? Our dorms are pretty crowded this year and that's the only open spot."

"That's fine; I don't mind." Nodding her head in acknowledgement, she exited the room again.

Sifir frowned. Her usage of the term 'Eleven' annoyed him. That derogatory term had very quickly faded out of use after Lelouch vi Britannia took the throne by force. When everyone was being punished equally horrifically regardless of race, gender, social status, or religion, it was hard not to join forces and fight the greater enemy out of desperation.

So why would she call Japanese Elevens in this century?

Unless…

Memories started trickling back. The museum. The mural. The earthquake…Zero. And now that he wasn't so unsettled by the sudden change of events, it wasn't so hard to believe that this whole thing wasn't an overdone simulation or a dream. Which could only mean that he was now a thousand years in the past, if the date that the nurse said earlier was correct.

Surprisingly, he didn't feel alarmed over that realization at all, or maybe it hadn't sunk in yet. In fact, he almost felt…excited. There were so many mysteries that could be solved, and he had seen Zero in person! And Kallen Kozuki to boot!

The door popped open again, breaking him out of his thoughts. "The room's ready!" Milly called. And now that he really looked at her, he was sure that she was the same news reporter that had covered so many exciting events during Zero's Revolution.

Sifir slipped out of bed, steadying himself as he stood. The nurse had given him something called 'pills' to help alleviate his headache and taught him how to take them, but he still had slight bouts of dizziness occasionally, and she had warned him that his balance would be a lot worse than normal for a few weeks.

He followed Milly through the hallways, noting the classrooms that lined either side. At least they had tables and chairs. His own school wasn't so different, though it usually had one large table that all the students sat around.

"So this is the math section of the school, and here's one of our gyms." Milly said as they passed. "Classes are off today, so most of the students are are out on field trips, in clubs, or in their dorms.

"The boys' dorms are on the left, and the girls' dorms are on the right, and the high school cafeteria is in the central building, and if you keep on going straight down that hallway, you'll eventually run into the middle school buildings."

"How many students attend this school?" Sifir asked.

The tall blonde put a hand on her chin. "Hm…I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but I'm thinking around two thousand students."

Two thousand?! Most schools would have two hundred, max.

Ah, right. Overpopulation.

"And here we are!" Milly said, pulling out a key and opening the door in front of her.

Sifir's eyes widened. Whoever his roommate was, he was neat. Several uniforms identical to the one Rivalz was wearing yesterday were folded neatly and laid in the corner on top of several other shirts. A stack of books and paper lay next to it as well, and the bed sheets were laid out immaculately, without any hint of wrinkles.

"Yeah, he's part of the military, so he's gotten into a habit of doing this, and no one can break him out of it. He's very busy, so he might not come back for a day or two." Milly explained, answering his unspoken question.

"Why would the military need him to be so neat, anyway?" he asked.

Milly laughed. "Oh, I don't know, because they pack disobedient soldiers into time machines and send them back a thousand years to the Medieval Ages to learn some discipline?"

Sifir stiffened, and she laughed. "Just kidding. You should probably ask him when he gets back."

"Who is he?"

She smiled enigmatically. "You'll see." She ushered Sifir into the room. "Well, get settled then. If you have any more questions, you can find me at the clubhouse. Ask anyone for directions." With that, she walked off, whistling cheerfully.

* * *

AN: The journal part wasn't originally there, but when a guest reviewer asked what happened to Zero after the Zero Requiem, I got the idea to write that journal/scene. It's a bit tangential now, but it drops a lot of hints about what happened after the Zero Requiem.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**  
**June 19, Year Zero**

Rivalz came into Sifir's room early the next day, carrying a pamphlet with the picture of a large pizza on the front. "Hey, Sifir, Ashford's hosting a pizza festival today, where we'll make the largest pizza in the world. Wanna come?"

Sifir blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "Pizza festival?"

Rivalz practically shoved the pamphlet in Sifir's face in his excitement. "I'm the announcer and coordinator over there, and it'll be really fun. You should come."

_…pizza. Such an ancient cuisine. I haven't had one in a very long time, I think._ Sifir thought. "Is it going to be very noisy though? The nurse says that I should keep away from it."

Rivalz frowned. "Well, it'll be as noisy as any other normal festival, I guess. We can get you some earplugs though."

_Earplugs? What's that?_ "That's okay, I can use my own." he replied. Whatever those 'earplugs' were, it was probably a worse alternative to the noise eliminator he had in his PSD.

"So you'll come, right?" Rivalz said.

"Um, yeah. I'll see you there."

* * *

_That annoying witch!_ Lelouch thought as he finally exited the warehouse building. The mess that Kallen caused by pushing over some panels would take hours to clean up later, and he still had to manage the rest of the school clubs. And find out why Ohgi was there at the warehouse. And return Diethard's call. And, worst of all, deal with C.C.

Being a student and a terrorist leader sucked.

_If Diethard was going to say what I thought he was going to say about the Zero Squad's operation, then there might be a problem transporting the Knightmares to their destination. We could hijack one of the ships passing through, but that would be too obvious. If Rakshata could finish developing that float system sooner, then…what?_ he thought as he saw his foot disappear for a brief moment. He moved his foot back and part of it reappeared, his black heel abruptly ending to reveal the grass underneath.

_What the…_

He walked forward and observed the way his legs disappeared and reappeared, almost as if he were walking through a sphere. He leaned down and stuck his hand inside the radius of the sphere, watching it disappear up to his elbow. When nothing happened, he leaned down farther, groping for the source of the anomaly.

His fingers made contact with something–were those handlebars?–underneath the bushes and pulled, shifting the radius of the sphere at the same time.

A sleek black vehicle covered with leaves and dirt suddenly appeared as his eyes entered the radius of the sphere. _A motorcycle? No, it doesn't have any wheels. But the controls indicate that it can steer and turn on and off._ He pulled the vehicle farther out of the bushes and a glass paperweight tumbled out of one of the vehicle's compartments and settled on the grass. Some black thing sat in the middle of the warped glass.

Curious, Lelouch picked the paperweight up. As he did so though, the black thing inside emitted a soft white glow, which died out after a few seconds. The screen between the handlebars of the vehicle lit up, showing a picture of the face of a blond boy with icy blue eyes. Underneath the picture was the name "Sifir Opelo". The name of the owner, perhaps? He would have to find that person then, if only to find out where he got these contraptions.

He picked up the paperweight and stood up, noticing that whatever was making things invisible had stopped. Maybe the paperweight was the one causing it. If so, then it would be very useful to the Black Knights, no matter how small the radius of it was. He could practically see the possibilities popping into existence. The vehicle likely had even more useful features. _Rakshata would love to have this._ he thought. _And so would the Black Knights._

* * *

"Now, introducing our special dough tosser, the Ashford family Ganymede!" Rivalz announced through the microphone, pulling the tarp away to reveal an oddly-shaped blue Knightmare, with protrusions from its arms that rose higher than its head. Sifir's eyes widened. He'd only seen the Ganymede in videos, and as a mini action figure in the museum just, what, yesterday? Or was–no–_will_ it be in a thousand years? Whatever.

The Knightmare performed a few gestures as Rivalz continued speaking. "Yes, it's a bit of an antique. However, at its controls is the student council's special member and Princess Euphemia's personal Knight, Sir Suzaku Kururugi!"

_Suzaku Kururugi?! He's_ here?!

It made sense, actually. As the pilot of the legendary Lancelot, Suzaku should be one of the most skilled pilots around to toss the dough. Though Sifir still couldn't understand why anyone would want to spend so much money on making such a large pizza.

"Excuse me," he muttered as he backed out of the watching crowd. He hated being in the middle of lots of people. Too claustrophobic, and neither did he have any good experiences with it.

He bumped into someone just when he reached the edge of the crowd. "Sorry!" He yelped and turned around to see an orange haired girl standing with her back to him.

She turned with a bright smile. "That's fine. I also came out here to escape the crowd. Have you been enjoying the festival so far?"

He smiled back uncertainly. "Yeah, I guess. But how did the people here manage to get the Ganymede? Isn't it the really antique Knightmare that Marianne the Flash piloted?"

"Oh, the Ganymede is from Milly's family, the Ashfords. They only take it out for occasions like these. I mean, nothing can throw a giant pizza quite like a Knightmare can." She laughed. "Milly's the one behind all these crazy schemes though. Me and the rest of the student council are just the subordinates that she orders around. By the way, what's your name? You must be a visitor."

"I'm Sifir. And actually, I woke up with a concussion on the school grounds and I still can't really remember how I got there. So I'm staying here until I recover from it."

Shirley's eyes widened. "Oh! So you're the person Rivalz found lying next to the camping club's practice camping trip! He told me about you. How's Ashford so far?"

Sifir laughed. "It's actually pretty incredible here. I mean, why would anyone want to make a giant pizza for no reason?"

"Well, Milly has a way of cheering everybody up. It's what makes her such a great president. Everybody loves her festivals and events, no matter how crazy they are, because it's what relieves the tension and stress that's built up in the weeks before. This time, it's really needed, since the Chinese Federation just attacked the other day. Anxieties are high, and many of the Elevens here are really enjoying seeing Suzaku piloting a Knightmare."

There it was again. Elevens. "How is he, I mean, Suzaku?"

"Oh, he's pretty nice. He's very busy a lot of the time, so he can't attend every student council meeting. Some students don't like him just because he's an Eleven, but once you get to know him, he's really not that bad."

Suzaku Kururugi, future Knight of Zero, is "nice"? Maybe he was just putting on a false persona.

* * *

"I never want to see people unhappy ever again," Euphemia stated with all the gentle but fiery determination she'd possessed as a child. Lelouch recalled her complete and utter confusion when she'd first heard of poverty. She had made a similar declaration to him and Nunnally back then as well.

He looked away. "Remember, we can't meet after this."

"That's not true, I found a solution for everything."

He turned to stare at her. "Everything?" He should've expected her to say these things, but after so many years it was hard to get used to them again.

"Yes, I'm going to establish a specially administrated zone surrounding Mount Fuji, where Elevens can call themselves Japanese and have equal rights as any other Britannian." she said excitedly.

"What? A specially administrated zone?!"

Euphemia looked surprised at his reaction. "You're not happy about it?"

"A specially administrative zone for the Japanese?" Nunnally piped up. "Oh, that would be so nice, Euphy!"

Lelouch froze, his mouth open in surprise. "Are you sure you want the administrative zone to be established?" He asked Nunnally almost hesitantly. _The Black Knights will lose their reason to fight if this madness actually happens, and the Japanese will end up all the worse for it!_

"Of course, big brother. Isn't that what you've wanted all along? For the Japanese to to be treated equally with the Britannians?"

"…yeah." All the Japanese would get from the deal would be an illusion of equality, with those who couldn't get into the zone subjected to even worse discrimination as Britannians sought to reassert their dominance.

"Is there something wrong?" Euphemia asked.

"Just…nothing. I'll talk to you later about it." There was no way he was going to mention anything about the Black Knights and his identity as Zero in front of Nunnally. He looked away from his sisters towards the ongoing festival. Suzaku had just finished tossing the dough and had moved it down so that the cooking club could add the tomatoes.

The watching crowd cheered as Suzaku lowered himself from the Ganymede and bowed to them while Rivalz continued narrating. At the back, he saw Shirley talking to another boy.

_The Japanese look so hopeful when they see Suzaku doing things that only Britannians usually get the privilege to do. It's ironic that Zero's popularity is dropping because of my best friend's success in thwarting my plans. And it'll only drop even more if Euphemia's plan is put into motion. Because most of the Japanese just want a safe place to live regardless of whether Britannia is still in control of Japan. Nevertheless, the special zone doesn't have an unlimited amount of space. The ones who can't get in will be subject to the wrath of the affronted Britannians and suffer just as much, if not more, than before the special zone._

He listened disconsolately as Nunnally and Euphemia continued to chatter enthusiastically. If Nunnally wanted the special administration zone to happen, then so be it. He would have to revise his plans to go along with it though. The Black Knights were definitely not going to be happy about being forced to act under the yoke of Britannian rulers, and Cornelia was also going to oppose it as well.

* * *

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Euphemia asked Lelouch when they were alone. Sayoko and Nunnally were getting some of the newly baked pizza for them.

"I'll go through with the specially administrative zone, but only under certain conditions." Lelouch said.

"Of course."

"The Black Knights will be in charge of the administrative zone's police force, and I will have a say in the day to day affairs of the zone." He wasn't about to let the Black Knights become defunct; he still had plans for them, and being able to manage the zone meant that he could get closer to powerful Britannian officials and Geass them if he wanted.

"The other people in charge might not like that, especially Cornelia." She pointed out.

"I'll deal with them. You don't have to worry about it, and Cornelia will be opposed to your idea anyway, even more so when she realizes that I'll be involved in it. I take it that you haven't told her yet?"

"No…" She trailed off, a frown crossing her face for a moment before it lit up again. "Oh! I know! If Cornelia knows who Zero is then she might not be so opposed to it."

"You mean show myself to her? She'll drag me back to the Homeland in an instant!"

"I'm sure you can convince her not to. Besides, didn't you want to ask her about Marianne's death?"

Lelouch paused. He _could_ very easily convince Cornelia to do anything with Geass if she were standing in front of him like Euphemia was proposing, and if things got out of hand, he could make Cornelia forget about Zero's identity and Euphemia forget that the meeting ever took place. In the end, the gains were worth more than the risks, which should be slim to none if everything went according to the plan that had started forming in his mind.

He sighed. "Very well then."

* * *

AN:

Yay! More Lelouch! I promise that there will be more of him in later chapters. Kallen is also coming shortly.

However, I have some bad news: I've reached the end of my buffer. That means updates will take much longer to come out. I'm aiming for at least once a month, but given how busy life is quickly becoming, I can't guarantee it. But I will show signs of life by updating my profile periodically with status updates.

On the other hand though, I have a beta reader, dw77! *throws virtual confetti* We'll be finalizing the plot and coming up with more goodies to throw at our beloved characters.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**  
**June 20, Year Zero**

_k-y-o-o-s-h-o-o- -i-n-s-i-d-e-n-t_ Sifir managed to type out after five minutes of finding the right keys. Really, why couldn't keyboards be arranged in alphabetical order? It just made everything harder. Talk about user-unfriendliness in these old clunky computers.

Figuring out how to use a keyboard wasn't that hard. It was just a matter of getting used to pressing buttons…real ones, at least. Being unable to send mental commands to machines forced engineers and designers to create many inefficient workarounds.

_Finally._ He reached up and tapped the 'search' button onscreen, leaving an oily fingerprint behind.

Nothing happened.

_Is the touchscreen malfunctioning or something?_ he wondered, jabbing at the screen again.

"Hey Sifir! What's up?" Rivalz called as he walked through the door to the computer lab.

Sifir looked up, startled. "Uh, the ceiling, of course. Why do you ask?"

Rivalz laughed. "Nice one. What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm just looking up the Kyushu Incident on the Internet." _What did he mean by 'What's up?'_

Rivalz looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. He laughed. "That's not how you spell 'Kyushu' or 'incident'." he reached over and typed out the proper spelling.

Sifir gaped at Rivalz, though he didn't notice. How did he type so fast? The keys weren't even in any logical order!

The blue-haired boy moved a rounded contraption with one hand and a small arrow that he hadn't noticed until now moved along with the contraption. He pushed the button on the contraption a couple times when the arrow was hovering over various buttons onscreen.

"Here you go," Rivalz said, moving back a little to let Sifir see. He gestured dramatically. "Wikipedia–all you ever need to know about anything!

Sifir froze. "Oh." Wikipedia was _that_ old? He regularly used it for school assignments in the…future. He scanned the page over. It was radically different than the one he had seen before. Much shorter and less accurate. In fact, the Black Knight's name barely even came up. Most likely the Britannian government was trying to cover up the fact that Zero actually intervened and helped Suzaku Kururugi defeat the so-called returning Japanese government. Everyone was probably not quite sure what to make of it. "Thanks. What about the newspapers though? Any one will do."

"Here," Rivalz clicked around a few more times to show a brief article outlining the incident. There wasn't much more detail there than in the Wikipedia page–mostly about how Princess Cornelia drove back the Japanese government's troops.

"Thanks. I'm just not very used to these kinds of computers." Sifir said.

"Then are you from the EU?" Rivalz asked.

"Uh, probably. I still can't remember." He lied. According to the history books, European computers were the most advanced of its time, though their military was still outclassed by Britannian Knightmares.

Rivalz snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot, Milly wants you to come to the student council room."

"Oh, okay." Sifir stood up. "What does she need me for?"

"You'll see in a moment." Rivalz replied as they walked out of the computer lab. "So why were you looking up the Kyushu Incident?"

"Just catching up on the news since I haven't had a good opportunity to do so until now."

"That makes sense. I've been following the news ever since February; it's become much more interesting since Zero appeared."

Well, that was true, at least. The Black Knights were always full of surprises until Tokyo was destroyed. "What do you think of him?"

Rivalz shrugged. "I'm not sure myself. I like how he fights to defend the weak, but…" he shook his head. "Never mind. We're here anyways." The doors slid open automatically.

"Surprise!" Milly cried, jumping out from behind a chair. "Welcome to the student council!" Shirley, a mousy black-haired girl with glasses, and a red-haired girl walked over at a more sedate pace.

"Oh, uh, thanks for the big welcome." Sifir stammered. This reminded him of the pranks that his classmates would sometimes play on each other, but in a good way, of course.

The others came forward. "I'm Kallen. It's a pleasure to meet you." The redhead said.

The mousy girl clasped her hands in front of her nervously. "Um, hi, my name's Nina."

_Why do those two look so familiar?_ he thought as he scrutinized the two. What other girl named Kallen would have the same red hair and blue eyes as the Red Lotus? Admittedly, 'Kallen' and 'Nina' were very common names and the demeanor of both girls were completely different from the confident ones he'd remembered seeing in old news broadcasts. The redhead looked like she couldn't even kill a fly and the mousy one seemed way too shy to invent such a deadly weapon as the FLEIJA.

"And we already met each other at the festival yesterday." Shirley said.

"I thought that spending all day in your room alone while you recovered from your injuries would be boring, so I'm inducting you into the student council." Milly explained. "Kallen also has a similar problem, actually. She has an illness that makes it hard to participate in normal club activities."

_Then she's definitely not Black Knight material._ "I'm sorry." he said to her.

"No need to be sorry," the redhead reassured him with a little smile. "It's not so bad once you get used to it."

Surprised cries went up from a room across the hallway.

"Oh, that was the Current Events club," Rivalz remarked as he took out something bulky (was that a _laptop_ computer?!) and turned it on. "That mean's something big's on the news right now." His eyebrows shot up when he glanced at it. "Apparently Princess Euphemia's going to address Area 11."

"Princess Euphemia?" Nina gasped, rushing over. Sifir and the others gathered around Rivalz's computer as well.

A Britannian and Japanese flag were displayed behind a podium decorated with Britannia's emblem onscreen. The Japanese flag was probably what caused all the ruckus in the Current Events club.

A distinctively pink-haired girl walked onstage moments later, her body lit up with hundreds of camera flashes. _Oh, crap,_ Sifir thought. _I think I know what she's going to do next. But if so, why didn't it happen during the festival?_

"I am Euphemia li Britannia, sub-viceroy of Area Eleven of the Holy Britannian Empire,"

_Also known as the Euphinator_ Sifir snarked silently, but there was nothing he could do.

"… and I hereby declare the formation of the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan in the area around Mt. Fuji!"

_Oh, great. Now the bitch has done it again. And it's not just the 'Specially Administrated Zone'–it's the 'Specially Administrated_ Killing _Zone'_

"Within the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan, Elevens may go back to calling themselves Japanese. Restrictions against Elevens and special rights for Britannians will not exist within the zone of Japan."

_Nothing will stop the victims from calling themselves Japanese in death._

"It will be a world where Elevens and Britannians will live as equals!"

_Yeah, right. It will be a world where Britannians massacre over a hundred thousand Japanese in less than two hours._ He let out a small sigh. What could he do? He had thought that the SAZ was over and done with when it hadn't been announced earlier, but it seemed like fate was very persistent. At the same time though, he couldn't just stand by and watch as Euphemia prepared to massacre a hundred thousand innocent men and women and children.

But how? He had no resources, no voice. If he said anything, people would just think he was insane. If he could convince someone with the power to stop this…who would listen to him…

"Do you hear me, Zero?" Euphemia called from the television.

_Zero?_

"Your past and who you are under that mask won't matter to me! So please, I beg of you! Please participate in creating the Zone of Japan! Help me build a new future within Britannia itself!"

Sifir looked around the room to see Kallen and Nina gaping at the screen, though Nina looked by far the most scared and conflicted while Kallen looked more angry and shocked than anything else.

"Why is she asking Zero?" Rivalz wondered out loud. "Isn't he aiming to free Area Eleven entirely from Britannian occupation?"

Sifir considered it. _Yes, Zero will probably be against the SAZ. Maybe I'll be able to help him prevent it if I can somehow get into contact._ "Accepting the Special Zone will mean accepting Britannian rule. The Black Knights won't have any reason to fight and Japan won't be liberated."

"But does it have to be liberated?" A voice asked from behind.

* * *

_This boy has some interesting ideas for a Britannian,_ Lelouch decided silently as the boy turned around. He paused when he saw the boy's face. _Ah, so this is the person who owns that vehicle and paperweight._ He'd have to confirm that, of course, but there was also something off about him. Maybe he was from the EU? If so, then the EU was much more advanced than anybody anticipated. Sure, their computers were much better than Britannian ones, but an _invisibility cloak_? That was a whole new level.

At the moment though, said person was trying admirably to hide his expression of shock and panic. _Maybe he knows I'm Zero?_ His mood darkened. With that invisibility cloak in his arsenal, it wouldn't be implausible that the boy had followed him around when he was Zero and saw his face when he took off his mask in private. If that was the case, then he would have to Geass the boy and make him and whoever he had told forget everything after he'd interrogated the boy on the technology he possessed. But why would the EU send someone as incompetent as this boy to find out Zero's identity?

It was time to find out. "Hello, I'm Lelouch. It's nice to meet you." he stepped forward and extended a hand.

The boy unconsciously shrank back a bit even as he struggled to plaster a shaky smile on his face. "Uh, I'm Sifir. I–It's nice to meet you too." Though his expression said anything but.

It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to say much else, and Geassing him right here in front if the rest of the student council was out of the question. So Lelouch would have to find other ways to get him alone in order to Geass him.

But still…what would the EU want in Area Eleven? The best case scenario would be that they wanted to aid Zero in driving out Britannia. The worst case would be that they wanted to eliminate a dangerous threat before it got too powerful. Maybe he should ask Diethard to plant contacts there and keep an eye on them from now on.

* * *

_Lights out,_ Sifir mentally commanded the lightbulb above him. And for the millionth time, nothing happened.

_Frickin' FLEIJAs, how did people live like this?_ he groaned. _Now I have to get out of bed and turn off the switch._

Before he could though, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" he called.

A moment later, the door opened, and someone stepped inside. _Finally my roommate decides to make an appearance after being absent for the last, what, three days?_

However, all of his thoughts came to a screeching halt when his roommate stepped out from behind the door.

_Holy shit._

Suzaku Kururugi, the Knight of Zero, paused when he noticed Sifir, and he broke into a reassuring smile. "Hi, you must be the new roommate that Milly told me about." He walked over to Sifir's bed and extended a hand.

_Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap_

"My name's Suzaku. What's yours?" the serial killer asked.

Sifir tried to speak, but all that came out was a strangled gasp. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Sifir," he managed. It still came out mostly as a croak, but at least it was recognizable as being a pronoun from the English language.

"It's nice to meet you, Sifir." the boy said. "I heard that you suffered some injuries a couple days ago and have to stay here for a while. Is that right?"

Sifir forced his head to nod.

A look of disappointment, so fleeting that Sifir almost missed it in his terror, passed over the brunette's face. He let his extended hand drop and turned away.

_Why is this happening to me?_ Sifir groaned. _First the Demon Emperor, then his dog of a knight. But that makes sense, actually. The two are probably here together so that they can develop their plan on how to take over the world._

He watched as the soon-to-be Knight of Zero bustled around the room and got ready for bed. A small part of him felt sorry for putting the other boy down like this at their first meeting, but he was one of the deadliest killers in known history. Not to mention that he was going to have to share a room with said person for the duration of his stay at Ashford.

He wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself. _Act normally,_ he told himself. _If you don't give him any reason to be suspicious of you, he won't attack._

_Hopefully._

* * *

AN: Haha. Sifir's objective and subjective realities are so screwed up.

On another note, sorry for the delay. Life's extraordinarily busy and it'll only get busier. But if you feel I'm taking too long (aka 2 months), feel free to shoot me a PM, review, or flame. In fact, feel free to PM me for any reason. Just don't spam.


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